SA Ep80 - Articles of Faith #4 Jesus Christ

SA Ep80 - Articles of Faith #4 Jesus Christ

In this episode, we focus on the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible presents Him as the eternal Son of God, fully God and fully man, virgin born, sinless, crucified for our sins, risen again, and now exalted at the right hand of the Father. We will look at who He is, why He came, what He accomplished, and why a right understanding of Christ is essential to salvation. This is not simply a study about a historical figure. This is a look at the only Savior of sinners. 

Transcript

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Welcome to the Seeking Approval Podcast. I'm Dr. Chris Smelser from Iliad Baptist Church. You know life moves fast, and faith is not meant to be rushed. I want to take some time and slow down with you and have some honest conversations from the Word of God about daily living. So join me here today on Seeking Approval. There is the one question that your entire eternity hinges upon. Who is Jesus Christ? Not what do people say, not what do you think about it? What does your church say? What does religion say or culture or family? But who do you say Jesus Christ is? Because if we get that question wrong, we get salvation wrong. If we see him as anything else other than the Savior of the world, then we've missed it by a mile. This is not one of those things where you can be a little bit wrong. Almost had it. Almost believed that he died for my sins. Almost believed that he rose from the grave. And that's what Agrippa said to Paul. He said, Paul, that almost persuaded me. He was so close. The rich young ruler came to Jesus, said, I've done everything. I've kept all the commandments. Done everything just right. What do I do now? Jesus said, Sell it all. Follow me. He couldn't do it. He was so close. So close to understanding. So when we come to the doctrine and these articles of faith, number four being the Lord Jesus Christ. Now these aren't in any particular order in my opinion, because you know, what do you put is more important? The Word of God or Jesus Christ or God Himself. I mean, they're all important. So but the fourth one we have discussed would be the Lord Jesus Christ. And really, I think this is maybe the very heartbeat of Christianity. Now, Christianity is probably one of the most overused words in the world today, probably along with offended. I think way too many people are offended today. You look at somebody wrong and it offends them. You speak your mind or give your opinion or your conviction on something and you offend someone. That's an offense to someone. I don't think I've ever offended anyone. Maybe I have and did not know it, but uh I've never uh tried to stop someone or impede their progress in something they were doing, whether it's uh you know some social construct that I, you know, uh adamantly disagree with for moral reasons. Um I've not stopped someone from living a homosexual lifestyle. I've not stopped someone from um doing drugs or alcohol or what any of those things, whatever it is, I've not physically went and stopped them. I've spoken against it, and I will I will continue to speak against it because it's it's my you know it's part of my moral fabric as a Christian that I should do that. I remember a politician been a few years ago, uh, I don't know, uh maybe eight years ago. He's a Christian man, and he was in a small town hall meeting, it was in a small area. I don't know how it made the news, but I watched it and someone uh spoke up. He was running on Christian morals and values, and someone spoke up and said, Well, why why do you be why does you being a Christian matter to us? Why should we vote for you because you're a Christian? He said, You should vote for me as a Christian because I feel that I need to do right by what I believe, and because of what I believe, I need to be honest, trustworthy, uh, I need to deal well with uh finances, and you know, he goes down this whole list, and it's true. But people don't want that. They want somebody who's not going to offend their convictions or beliefs. The other overused word that we were discussing is Christianity. I'm a Christian. Well, if you ask people today, if you got a thousand people in a room and you know, just uh, you know, in a random cross section, you'd probably have 750 of them and say, Oh, yeah, I'm a Christian. Really? So you're walking a Christ-like life. So we overuse that term because we don't understand who Jesus Christ really is. But he is the very center centerpiece, the heartbeat of Christianity. And every promise, every prophecy, every doctrine, every hope points to him. John wrote that in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God. So from the very beginning, Jesus has been the centerpiece, the word of God has been the centerpiece of all things. And when you see him in Scripture and actually study him, Christology, the study of uh studying Christ, then you can start understanding that everything else falls in its place when we understand Christ. He's not the truth that's among many, he is the truth of all things. Now, there's some characteristics about Christ that we need to understand as well. Christ is eternal. Bethlehem was not his beginning. Uh, he was in the beginning with God, as we've already discussed. He goes back beyond creation. He was not a created being, as some religions, as we discussed last time, might say. He's not a created being. He's not uh an addition to God's plan. He's not an afterthought, like, you know, well, I guess that didn't work, so let me do something else. He's the eternal Son of God. And when he came to earth, he took on the human flesh form. He was the incarnate, incarnality, incarnal, in flesh, in the world, God. Now, some people say that he laid aside his deity. No, he did not. When he came to earth, he was 100% God and 100% man still, and they did not intermingle with one another. Now, this is going to be a little deep, so hang with me, and if if if it's uh if it's too much for a morning uh devotion, uh we'll we can discuss it later. But if you go back to his uh Olivet discourse after he had been in the temple during the final week in his life, and he's there talking on the Mount of Olives to his disciples as they turned around and saw the Herodian temple, 35 acres of majesty and beauty that Herod had built. And as we're looking back over it, Jesus begins to give them this long discourse, a long sermon about all the things that's gonna happen in the end times. And he talks in that, and he it's almost like you can he flips back and forth because at one point he's talking about all these things that's gonna happen at the end time, but then he goes on to the next and says, But the Son of Man doesn't know when it's gonna happen. No man knows. So does he know or does he not know? Is he God or is he not God? Because if he's if he's God, if they're one, if they're in unity, then surely he would know. But in that one discourse, we get a perfect clear view of 100% God, 100% man. Now Bible scholars for years have tried to explain these verses away of what's going on, and tried to use these verses to uh to disclaim him as uh the part of the Godhead. That's just not the case. There's w there's a plethora and an abundance of verses where he is equal to God. So he is eternal, he is God. And his deity, being the Son of God, being part of the Trinity, is absolutely essential. Because if if Jesus is not God, if he is not part of the Trinity, then he cannot reveal the Father perfectly. And if he can't reveal the Father perfectly as the Son of God and live a life as the Son of Man in human form, in incarnate, then he can't bear the full weight of sin. Because God can't have sin. So he has to have part of some part of him has to bear the sin. That's the Garden of Gethsemane moment, when he was exceeding sorrowful. When you study that out in the Greek, that means that he was so heavy with sorrow that it was unto death. It gives you the picture in the Greek when you study that moment out, when he leaves the disciples and goes a little further about a stone's throw, that he walked as far as he could until he just fell down on his face. Sweat as as great drops of blood. That was the human side of him, feeling the full weight of sin that was being put upon him. Now, this is the same God that calmed the sea, that cast out the demons, that raised the dead, which is just words. And he's he's collapsing under the weight of sin. So if he's not God and he's not man, then he can't bear the full weight of sin, and he can't atone for the sin. If he's not the priest, he he can't do the work. But the Bible is very clear God with us, Emmanuel, God with us. He forgives, he receives worship, he speaks with authority, claims unity. We're studying Colossians on Wednesday night, and Paul in his prayers, in his in his uh uh prison prayer to the Colossae, uh, to the church or for the church of Colossae, that he was telling them that he was praying. He he he gets into this, uh he he's he's bragging on the church members there of Colossae because Epaphras had just said some wonderful things about how they love one another and they're growing and they're being fruitful. And as Paul is praying, as he typically typically does, he he mentions Christ. And as soon as he mentions Christ, he's gone, he's off on a tangent. I mean, just worshiping goes into one of his Pauline doxologies. And he he then in that he presents him as he's praying to God, as he's praying to Christ. He presents him as the image of the invisible God, the creator of all things, the one in whom all fullness dwells. That is not language of somebody who's just a prophet or a rabbi or a great man or an angel. That's deity language. But at the same time, his humanity. So not only is he eternal, not only is he God, but he's also part of humanity. And we've we've discussed this already, but he was born. He had a had a physical birth through Mary. Now we have all these heretic teachers out there that are saying that, well, that's not, you know, he was probably uh born with uh through a Roman soldier that uh had his way with Mary through uh, you know, some sort of an affair, things like that. If you want to believe that mess, you go ahead and believe that mess. But again, if you get this wrong about Jesus, you've missed it by a mile. If you don't believe that he was the virgin son of Mary, or the the the the son of the virgin Mary, then you've missed all of it. Matthew says, Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and it shall call his name Emmanuel. That virgin birth matters because it shows that Christ didn't inherit a sinful nature. Every man is born in sin. Paul wrote that. Whereas by uh sin came to this world by one man, all every man is born in a sin nature. I don't think that we are depraved, depraved in meaning uh total inability, as some uh certain groups out there would have you believe, that you can't even think good things. You don't you can't even understand anything about God, you don't desire anything about God unless he uh makes you awake or alive first. I don't believe that. I believe we have the ability to hear because he says, How will you hear without a preacher? He didn't say how we hear without being awakened by God. How will you hear without a preacher? So we've got to hear to have faith. Faith, then grace, then salvation. But anyway, uh so he was he didn't inherit the sin nature like every man did. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, entered in the world as the Son of God, Son of Man, without sin. When he grew, he he hungered, he thirsted, he wept, he was tempted, but he did all this without sin. Mark, the book of Mark, which we're actually studying on Sunday mornings right now, Mark shows the humanity of Jesus more than any other book. It shows him tired, shows him sleeping, shows, I mean, on and on and on, Mark shows us the human side of Christ more than any other book. And then Paul, who I believe is the author of the book of Hebrews, it just it just reeks of Paul's writing. It says, for we have not a high priest and high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings, the feeling of our infirmities. He's not somebody who doesn't understand what we're going through, because he's been through it. He's been hungry and thirsty and tired and attacked and blasphemed and uh uh ridiculed, mocked. I mean, he's been through all those things, tempted, tried. But was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He did it all without sin. That leads us to the next nature of Christ that we need to understand. Not only is he eternal, not only is he God, he's a deity, not only is he human, he takes on a human form, but he's sinless. And always he was tempted, as we are tempted, at all points. He was tempted as we are tempted. Yet without sin. This is not just a side note or an interesting detail or something that's debatable. It is essential in understanding who Jesus Christ is. Because if Jesus had sinned even once, even the even the slightest sin, then he would have needed a savior. And if he needed a savior, he couldn't be our savior. But he lived a perfect life under the law of God. He fulfilled every requirement that we failed to meet. And that perfect righteousness is what makes him the only suitable sacrifice of sin. The lambs, the lambs were always inspected by the priest to find any spot or blemish. And if there was a spot or blemish, the lamb could not be sacrificed, could not pardon the sins for that family for the year that they needed in the Old Testament. It had to be a perfect, spotless lamb. A lamb without blemish or a lamb without sin. And when he came to this world, he came and lived a sinless life. Not because he was protected, not because that uh uh God put a uh uh a hedge around him and he just walked through in a plastic bubble where nothing could get to him. No, he was right in the middle of all of it. Forty days and forty nights he was tempted. So he could only die for our sins if he was the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. That brings us to the next portion we must understand about him his death. The cross was not just uh happenstance, it wasn't just because a bunch of Jews didn't want to accept him because he was challenging their authority, it wasn't because of Rome. They didn't kill him, he wasn't murdered, he willingly laid down his life. Matter of fact, whenever he was taken to trial, the first trial he went to at Caiaphas's house, well, he went to Annas' house, then he went to Caiaphas. Annas was the former high priest that apparently had stepped down during that last year, and he went to Caiaphas's house, who was Annas' son-in-law, who was now the high priest, which was all totally wrong because the high priest was supposed to come from the line of Aaron, and you can't be the son-in-law of someone and be the high priest because you're not in the bloodline, unless you were his son, too, and then there you go, you got the issues there marrying your sister. But um even at that trial at Caiaphas, in Caiaphas's house, which was illegal according to Jewish law, the only trial that ever happened in a house, and at night was this one, they couldn't get their story straight. They were bungling it up so bad that in that moment, you can go read. In that moment, Jesus had to correct them and he said, Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay, listen, I'm I'm the Son of God, and you're going to see me coming again one day. And I'll be sitting at the right hand of the Father. Then Caiphus finally gets angry and tears his garments, which was uh against uh Levitical law for uh priests to do that. They weren't able to do that. They were supposed to show control at all times. They were not supposed to tear their garments. The Bible is very clear about that, yet he did anyway. So many things wrong with his trial. Jesus had to do it, had to do their work for him because he was he was trying. Guys, I'm trying to die here for the sins of mankind, and you're messing this up. So let me just give you this. And then he goes the next morning, I mean, just hours later, they take him before Pilate. And by the time he gets to Pilate, no longer are they accusing him of being uh blaspheming and calling himself God. Now they tell Pilate, well, he said he's the king of the Jews. Because Pilate didn't care about him being a deity. It don't bother Pilate, none. He don't believe what they believe anyway. So Pilate would probably flip his wrist at him and said, Who cares? Let him go think he's God. He's not. Caesar is God. That's what he that's what Pilate was saying. But they had to change it. So somewhere between Kaiser's house and in front of Pilate, and in those few hours, all the powers to be of the religious leaders got together and said, Wait a minute, we can't talk about him being uh you know saying he's God. We need to say that he's king because now that will grab the attention because of the insurrection that could happen. Now we can present him as the insurrectionist. And that's why standing before Pilate, when Pilate said so, you're the king of the Jews. And, you know, Jesus probably looking around. I mean, obviously, you know, he knows what's going on, but he's like, in my mind, I just kind of see it like he's looking around, like, now I thought y'all just said that I was going to die because I blasphemed and said I'm God. But now you're saying I'm the king of the Jews. And that's why I think he said back to Pilate, Thou sayest. Whatever you want to say. If that's what you got, that's fine. But that's not what we just talked about a couple hours ago. But if that gets the process moving along, let's move it along. Yep. Thou sayest. So, I mean, he didn't, he wasn't murdered. He willingly laid his life down, so much so that he had to help them with the process of him laying his life down. The Old Testament tells us that he was delivered before the determinate council, is what Psalm says. Determinate council. They were determined. They had a predetermined, it was a kangaroo cord that had a predetermined outcome that they were going to kill him. So they thought. But he was laying his life down. But it doesn't end at the cross. And while we're there at the cross, let me just say this. I'm trying to dispel some of these uh lies and fabrications. There's a such thing called the swoon theory. The swoon theory says that Jesus didn't actually die, that he was in such turmoil and pain and suffering that he passed out. His heart rate slowed so much they thought he was dead. They took his body, laid him in the grave, he laid there in this like comatose state until he finally uh woke back up. There are so many holes in that that we I mean it it it's just it's hard to go through all the problems with the swing theory. So again, if you get that wrong, if you miss it by a little bit, if you believe that he was virgin born, if you believe that he lived a sinless life, if you believe that uh he uh lives again or or lives today, but you don't believe he died on the cross, you've missed it by a mile. Paul says repeatedly, we must believe in his death, his burial, and his resurrection. All three are vitally important, and I would add the virgin birth. He was born, he died, he was buried, and he rose again. That leads us to the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that his sacrifice was accepted, that his death, that death was defeated, that the grave has no more victory, and he is exactly who he claimed to be. And today he sits at the right hand of the Father, ever making intercession for you and I, ever praying for me and you. These are the things we must believe. Must understand these about Jesus Christ. Well, how does this help my day? I thought this these these uh episodes were gonna be about, you know, me having a better day. How much better of a day can you have than starting it off talking about Jesus? Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. The sweetest name I know. Feels my every longing. Keeps me singing as I go. That is the name. What a lovely name. The name of Jesus. Today I pray that you you understand, not in a head knowledge, not in a in a gnosis way. That's knowledge, but in an epinosis, an experiential knowledge. I pray today that you know who Jesus Christ is. Thank you for joining us today on Seeking Approval. You know our faith oftentimes grows in quiet places. I hope today's conversation gave you something worth carrying throughout the rest of this day. And join me, Dr. Chris Smelser, again next time as we continue thinking, learning, and walking together. Until then, grace and peace to you from Seeking Approval at Gilead Baptist Church.